Happy Halloween, Ducks!
As always, here's hoping that you're all doing well. Have a great day, spooky activities, fun activities, candy-related activities…or no activity! Whatever you're doing, enjoy…
and to all a good…fright?
Happy Halloween!
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 31, 2024Horror CateGORIES
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 24, 2024
Now that's a little TOO scary!
Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is often allegorical by default, what with its bizarre landscapes and freaky beasties.
Here are some categories of horror and some thoughts on what they symbolize:
Reality Bites
psycho killer! Qu ...
Dance With The Devil
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 17, 2024
Dance With the Devil
the attraction and repulsion of horror
There a few things - movies, books, stories and TV shows - that scared me enough as a kid that I still remember them. Some are just moments from a book, show or whatever that wasn't that scary beyond that one ...
The Monstrous Horde and the More-Than-Just-Hors-d-oevres
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 3, 2024
what the flock?
Welcome to October proper, and the beginning of our spooky/scary month of articles.
There's a brand of scary movies where the ‘monster’ or whatever is not just one machete-wielding angry frog manchild. Or ravenous shark or alien or some other kind of monster or killer ...
The Horror Group Shot
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 28, 2021
There are a handful of cinematic “group shots” that showcase an ensemble of characters in a memorable way.
The Avengers in their first movie have one where they're finally all together, back to back in a circle to face the invading alien army.
There's the Usual Suspects in ...
Horror is Living Forever
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 21, 2021
Living Forever
Robert Zemeckis, director of Back to the Future, Forest Gump, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit among other great movies, made a more obscure dark comedy called Death Becomes Her. The subject matter involves magic related to living forever…even after you're technically dead.
This has always been ...
Horror and Morality
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 15, 2021
The idea of “sin” is a prevalent one in horror stories. In terrifying tales, the monstrous against the human also explores good vs. evil.
There is often a “sin” perpetrated by horror Protagonists. The classic Psycho begins with Marion Crane stealing money from her job. Her intentions are understandable, maybe ...
Horror, and the Broken
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 14, 2021
I'm wounded but you can't see it!
A lot of stories involve a wounded and/or flawed character. It's a staple of strong storytelling; a character has some kind of pain or wound to overcome, and that's the inner journey they take along with whatever outward ...
Horror and Technology
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 7, 2021
I remember when cell phones began to get popular and pervasive. As a fan of horror movies, I said to myself “well, that's the end of a lot of horror stories!”
With cell phones, it doesn't matter if you're stuck at camp or in a creepy house ...
Little Rubber Puppet Monsters
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 30, 2021
In the early 80's, thanks to the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th, a slew of slasher movies was released. There was even a documentary about the glut of imitators that flooded the theaters/video stores for a few years.
There was a smaller trend (smaller in several ...